Kearn waited at the top of the stairs for Abe—retreating to his room once he arrived.

For the first time, he saw Miss Nia’s door left open and unguarded, sending a shiver tracing his spine as he approached.

He paused in the doorway, body stiffening as he spotted her silhouette.

“In,” she commanded, back turned to him at the room's far end.

“Yes,” he whispered as he entered the warmly lit room, turning as the door creaked close at his back.

“You’ve been busy, it seems.”

“Well, a lot has-” Abe stammered, turning back toward Miss Nia.

She turned, her half-lidded gaze settling on him as he further into the room, “Has it?”

Abe swallowed; he had almost forgotten what being within her dominating presence was like.

“So, Abraham? Care to elaborate?”

“It’s um, well…” his eyes turned to the ground.

“Speak plain. I want to hear it from your lips, young Abraham.”

“I understand,” Abe straightened and tried to force his gaze on her. “We were threatened by invaders. We–I mean, I, stopped them. Elissa’s frustration grew at my continued successes, and she attacked me because of them.”

“Really?” Miss Nia drawled, a finger pressed against her cheek as she narrowed on him.

“Yes, Mistress. I won. I killed her.”

Miss Nia tilted her head slightly, studying Abe with a fascinated gleam in her eyes as a smile started to play at the edges of her full, red lips.

“There was a necromancer; I killed him, too. He appears to have been a mercenary sent here by someone. And we found a vessel controlled by a black orb. I hid it, planning to keep it for myself.”

“Anything else?”

“Yes,” he nodded. “Worms, some kind of parasite—Bazaarbus called them meatworms. They infected me and made me stronger. Protected me against Elissa’s attacks. They can stitch my wounds and increase my strength.”

“Oh my,” she softened, smiling and arching upwards, perking her cheeks and forming small dimples beneath the light. “You’re telling the truth, aren’t you? You defeated someone you had no business fighting against. With or without those worms, that is most impressive. You see, young Abraham, I treasure strength. You have already achieved more than Elissa ever did, and you’re just getting started. There is an unimaginable gulf between your potential and what she had—and I’m not about to punish you for seeking your limits. She was a fool to challenge you, and because of that, she lost her life.”

She began to walk towards him, taking long, deliberate steps. Her dress parted with her step, revealing her netted stockings beneath.

Abe swallowed as his eyes wandered like untamed beasts across her body.

“I won’t lie, those worms, they do bother me. The thought of your perfect form infected by those things sends shivers down my spine,” she said, reaching Abe with a sniff and tracing a finger along his jawline.

“Those filthy things are a parasite used by necromancers to control and mutate their victims. However, the relationship you share with them has obviously evolved beyond that. To control two paths towards undead ascension is quite a rare gift to possess.

“What do you mean?” Abe said, some strength returning to his words.

Miss Nia pressed a finger against his lips as she circled him, “Not yet, let me finish. You please me by admitting to your theft. I was well aware of that astral vehicle, its deathly core cannot hide my sight within my own domain. You admitted to this without needing to draw it from your lips, and for that you get points. It scares me a little what you’re becoming, it is wise you do not make me doubt any further.”

Abe nodded.

“Whether your actions were out of fear or devotion to me has yet to be seen, but I will not press that further at this point as I am entranced by your growth. In such a short time you have come so far, I can feel it. You’re close already. Only a few steps away from the precipice and, with it, the evolution into a wight. A task that takes many a lifetime you have achieved in the blink of an eye. I was already prepared to spend a great wealth on treasures to see you grow into your potential, but it is obvious that is not needed—at least not yet.”

“Thank you.”

“Shh,” she hushed, returning her finger to his lips. “But the path you have chosen is one unfamiliar to me. I will not be able to help you as much as I had planned. For at the pinnacle of your growth, should you reach that, there lies more than just a vampire’s form.”

Abe’s lips moved to speak, but she pressed against them harder,

“Even my champion Kearn finds himself stuck at his current stage. He is a great warrior who took me hundreds of years to find. Needless to say, you have impressed me beyond even my great expectations for you,” she said, gesturing for him to follow her with a finger. “I warn you, do not let my words get to your head. You are still nothing. Barely a child awakening from infancy.”

Captivated, he watched her walk, a delicate hand extending to brush away the curtains to her bed chamber.

He followed, heart pounding as he parted the curtains.

Lying on a bed of red, silky sheets she let her long-lashed lids flutter shut, her milky visage contrasted by full red lips that were thinly parted.

“On the ground,” she said.

Abe’s chest pounded, and he obeyed without pause, walking up within a couple of meters of the bed and then dropping to crawl the rest of the distance until he lay down beside it.

“Sit up.”

He sat up.

“You’ve already fed today, naughty boy.”

“Sorry, I-”

“I doubt it will matter; I’m sure you’ll appreciate this. I have taken a special kind of medicine. It runs through me as we speak. I had planned on saving it for a later date, but your accomplishments deserve a reward. Not only that, but you gifted me with honesty and loyalty. Remember, many more treasures await you along this path should you continue to follow it. And should you not, only my wraith awaits.”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“I understand.”

Good,” she said, cutting her wrist and extending it over the side of the bed. “I do not give you this gift lightly. You are the only one I allow to feed from my flesh. Savor this honor and the taste.”

An unfamiliar, floral scent lined her blood, sparking a desire to taste the unknown within him, and Abe shot up, wrapping his lips around her skin and biting down—his fangs puncturing deep.

Nia moaned. “How is it that your bite feels so good,” she said, her fingers tightening around a handful of silky red linen.

Abe’s heart thumped, and his veins constricted as the addictive taste of Miss Nia’s blood filled him.

“Do you feel it? A serum I consumed is binding us. It is unique, compared even to the thirst you feel for me. This bond is both insurance and a gift. It will strengthen you, crystalizing your bloodline and mine.”

His jaw tightened around her wrist, teeth digging deeper into her supple flesh.

“Have you had your fill, my precious?”

Ravenous desire had overtaken him, leaving behind a feral beast that thought for nothing but the quenching of its hunger.

“Please, show me. Show me that you have the strength to control yourself,” she said, her body twitching on the bed, tremors cascading down her arm every time Abe renewed his effort to suck at her blood.

Gradually her words reached him. They came as whispers at the edge of his mind, lost somewhere within the abyss of his immortal desire. Like a dream, urging him to awaken.

“Yes,” he heaved, relaxing his jaw and releasing her wrist. “I can,” his breathy words quivered, and he fell back to the ground, muscles tensing up as the power of her blood and the serum sent his body into convulsions.

Miss Nia’s body trembled. Her doubt lingered. What she felt when connecting with Abe wasn’t something that would be easy to control, but she couldn’t help herself. She wanted more.

“Get up,” Kearn’s flat-toned voice woke him.

“What?” Abe groaned, head thumping as he sat up. His body was stiff with aches and strains tightening every inch of it.

He looked around. He was still in Miss Nia’s bedroom.

Abe turned to his right. The bed was empty.

“Up,” Kearn repeated.

He nodded and pulled himself up to wobbly legs.

“Go see Ricky; you’ve got a day to prepare.”

“Prepare for what?” Abe raised a brow.

“The Mistress wants to reward you. She plans to take you to Lantern to attend an auction.”

“Lantern?”

“I haven’t the time to explain. Just go prepare yourself.”

“But I-”

“I don’t care,” Kearn said, turning for the door.

“Yeah, I noticed,” Abe grunted as he followed.

Standing to the side of the door, Kearn gestured toward the stairs.

“Yeah, yeah,” Abe shook his head as he walked past him.

What has gone and got itself stuck up his ass.

Abe’s steps echoed into the Kennel.

“Oh, you’re back. Spent a night in the Mistress’s room, did you?” Ricky grinned as he walked up to the workbenches.

“How do you… I mean, why do I ask.”

“This mansion isn’t that big,” Ricky let out a bone-chattering chuckle. “Kearn’s going to be sour about that for millennia, I love it.”

“I’m glad you find the humor in it.”

“Ah, whatever. He’s an asshole. Why you down here anyway, pal?”

“Kearn told me to come down here. Said I had a day to get ready before leaving for Lantern, whatever that is,” he sighed.

“Oh, she is taking you to Lantern already. Don’t get too excited; it’s just a backwater shard world. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a decent enough trading hub.”

“Do I want more details?” Abe groaned.

“Eh, you do need them? She’s the one doing the buying; you can sit back and be pampered, pretty boy.”

“Figured you’d say something like that.”

“By the way, don’t forget you offered to help me. You got me two of the aspects, which is great, but it ain’t going to cut it. Remember, the Mistress isn’t going to be happy if I can’t get this thing fixed.”

“Yeah, as soon as I get back, I swear. Now, shardworld, details?”

“Details, like what?”

“What the hell does that mean for starters?”

“You know about the wells, right?”

Abe nodded.

“Yeah, well, shardworlds don’t have them.”

“You’re one helpful son of a bitch, Ricky.”

“Heh, I do my best.”

“So, what am I doing down here?”

“Beats me. I’m not the one who sent you here.”

“Invasions, magical wells, and now shards? What else is waiting for me?”

“Pal, it takes thousands of years to understand all the intricacies of this shit. You’re still just a whining child.”

“A whining child you’re asking for help from.”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Ricky coughed. “You’re a good kid. Just don’t get so caught up in it all, you know?”

“No, Ricky, I don’t. What the hell is a shardworld?”

“It’s just like a domain, but no well. I told you. Home to a bunch of bottom feeders surviving on errant waves of energy traveling through the Vale.”

“That’s something, I suppose,” Abe sighed.

“All you need to know is it's all connected to energy, the deathly kind for us. But the dreamers aren’t much different.”

“Do you know about the submarine with the black orb?”

Ricky bent his brow inquisitively, remaining silent for a moment. “Oh, yes, of course, I do—idiot. You’re talking about the astral vessel.”

“Yeah, Miss Nia called it that.”

Ricky nodded.

“It has a black orb with the same energy that flows through the well. They’re related, right?”

“It’s a deathly core. Deathly energy can be stored in that thing. The same stuff that is funneled through the well. The energy we need. That orb can harness it to travel the tethers between domains and sail the Astral Vale.”

“So, Miss Nia controls the well here, in this domain. That well provides the energy we need to survive. And somehow, there are other domains, worlds, or whatever, that survive without it?”

“More or less. Shardworlds do exist, but they are limited in practice.”

“So, how does Miss Nia come to rule this well or domain?”

“She earned it through war. The well itself is weak, about as weak as they come. But it grants her the title of lord nonetheless. Making her a baroness, the lowest of the vampire lords. And granting her the power that funnels from the living within the mortal plane.”

“There are more of them?”

“Oh, yes. There are many above her, ruling over far greater lands than this. There’s an entire system that governs them and, in turn, governs the domains of the Deathscape. Hell, they’re not even the only ones.”

“This system, these ranks, what is all this?”

“Here’s the run down because I kind of like you, as hard as that may be to believe. Several ranks govern vampires and other undead lords. They are as follows: counts, marquees, dukes, and finally princes and princesses—the titles reserved for members of the vampire council.”

“And the court of Umbrial, I heard it mentioned. How does that fit into this?”

“The late Lord Umbrial was a vampire prince and council member. He sired Miss Nia, and through that, she is one of the heirs to his throne. But no one really knows what’s going to happen. It's likely war, though. The remaining members of the council have been suspiciously quiet. Not only did he die under suspicious circumstances, but his inheritance should have been divided by now. There are rumors that the council plans to divvy the holdings between themselves and reduce the council by a seat, giving them more power.”

“And?”

“What do you mean? Doing so will almost certainly lead to war. It would mean breaking a truce that has lasted thousands of years. It would change and challenge the balance of power beyond what anyone can remember. The lands beyond this place are filled with fractions and lords competing for power. A change of this magnitude screws everything up.”